Erection building toy



J. H., MILLER ERECTION BUILDING TOY July 21, 1959 2,895,256

Filed Nov. 39, 1956 v INVENTOR y'@W,J %-i Wu,

' ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent ERECTION BUILDING TOY John Miller, La Grange, Mo.

Application November 19, 1956, Serial No. 622,962

3 Claims. (Cl. 4619) This invention relates to an erection building toy. The invention is particularly useful in connection with a building toy which may be packaged within 'a narrow package and then expanded to form a building. In the illustration given, a stable is disclosed as anillustration of a structure employing the invention.

In the forming of a building such as a toy stable or other structure, which, when expanded, takes up considerable room, it is of the utmost importance that the structure be so designed as to be folded into a compact unit for shipping, and moreover into a unit which will remain in compact folded shape so as to withstand the stress of shipment without injury and while occupying a mini mum of space.

An object of the present invention is to provide a structure which accomplishes the above described results. A further object is to provide a structure in which the folding of the parts brings a control member into tight frictional engagement with at least one of the folded parts to lock the parts in collapsed relation. Yet another object is to provide an erectable building employing a plurality of flat boards and a collapsible frame structure, all of which may be compactly arranged in a narrow, thin packet and with the movable parts therein locked against movement during shipping. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown, in an illustrative embodiment, by the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a toy building constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a top plan view of the structure folded into a compact narrow package for shipment; and Fig. 3, a perspective view of the parts shown in spaced-apart relation and indicating the method of assembly thereof.

In the illustration given, A designates a platform or floor, B designates a foldable building structure, and C indicates a roof member.

The member A, consisting of a flat board having thereon decorative material such as straw, etc., for simulating the ground about a stable, presents no problem in that the board itself is flat and can be readily assembled with other parts in the forming of a narrow package. It will be understood that the surfacing of the board A may be varied depending upon the type of building which is to be erected.

The foldable structure B constitutes the main frame of the building, and since this structure, in extended or expanded form as shown in Fig. 1, occupies considerable room, a problem is presented in providing such a structure which may be collapsed into narrow compass while at the same time locking the members against movement or against shattering during shipment, etc.

In the illustration given, the structure B comprises a back member or board 10, side walls or panels 11, and a front roof-supporting member 12.

The rear wall 10 is preferably flat and at its top is provided with an an arched roof-supporting portion 13.

Patented July 21, 1959 Secured to the side edges of the rear wall 11 are the angle members 14 at the upper edges of the board, and the angle members 15 at the lower side edges of the board. Each of these members has an inner flange secured by screws or other means to the board 10, and a horizontal flange 16 providing a pivot support for the side walls 11.

The side walls or panels 11 each comprise an inner post 17 adapted to be received between the flanges 16 of the upper angle member 14 and the lower angle member 15 and to be pivotally mounted thereon through the use of nails 18, as illustrated best in Fig. 3. The panel 11 further includes the outer post 19, and, in the illustration given, has a top beam 20 and a bottom beam 21. Boards 22 extend between the posts 17 and 19 and angular straps 23 extend between the side posts 17 and 19 and the top beam 20. It will be understood that any suitable side panel structure may be employed.

Connecting the posts 19 of the two panels 11 at the front sides thereof and through the top beams 20 by means of nails 24, is a roof support or beam 25. Preferably secured to the beam 25 is a pointed roof support 26 corresponding to the roof support portion 13 of board 10.

With the structure shown, when the side walls 11 are swung laterally to the position shown in Fig. 2, the top beam 25 extends over the side panel 11 at the righthand side of the structure shown in Fig. 2 and in tight frictional engagement with the top beam thereof so that the parts are tightly held in the compact narrow compass shown in Fig. 2. The posts and angle flanges 16 cooperate with the tight frictional engagement described between the beam 25 and the beam 20 of one of the panels 11 so as to prevent the folded structure from moving outside of the straight aligned relation shown, so that there is no tendency for any of the parts to shatter or to move during shipment of the structure.

When it is desired to erect the structure B, this is accomplished by pressing the beam 25 away from the beam 20 of the panel engaged by it and then to swing the side members 11 forwardly to the position shown best in Fig. 1. This movement is accomplished freely after the frictional engaging parts 25 and 20 are partially separated.

With the structure B erected as shown in Fig. 1, it is necessary to provide an interlocking means for maintaining the parts in the relation shown, and this, I find, can be eflectively accomplished by using a roof member 27, as shown best in Figs. 1 and 2. The roof member 27 is formed preferably of two panels 27a and 27b, provided at their inner end with notched portions 28, and preferably connected by a plurality of spaced metal staples 29. The staples 29 are resilient or bendable so as to be movable from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the inclined position shown in Fig. l, and the bending movement is accomplished through the provision of the notched portions 28. By employing malleable staples 29 rather than resilient staples, I find that the roof panel 27, when bent to the arched position shown in Fig. 1, is rigidly held in this position by the bent staples 29 so that a firm interlock is maintained between the roof panels and the frame structure B. In the initial shipment or construction of the set, it is preferred to have the staples 29 in the straight position shown in Fig. 1, so as to maintain the panels in one continuous aligned board so that the same lies closely adjacent and in compact relation to the structure B. Then when the structure B is erected or expanded to the position shown in Fig. 1, the malleable staples 29 may then be bent to the fixed position shown in Fig. 1 whereby they maintain the roof panels 27a and 27b in the locking position about the side panels and roof panels of the structure B.

While, in the foregoing specification, I have set forth a specific structure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

1 claim:

1. In an erection building toy, a rear wall board, spaced angle members secured to the edge portions of the board at the top and bottom of each edge and providing forwardly-extending horizontal hinge flanges, a pair of stiff side walls having inner posts extending between a pair of said flanges and being pivotally secured to said flanges for swinging movement in the same direction between closed positions wherein said side walls are substantially parallel with said rear wall and extended positions wherein said side walls extend forwardly away from said rear wall at substantially right angles thereto, and a roof support 20 member pivotally connecting the forward portions of said side walls and being substantially parallel with said rear wall when said side walls are closed and extended, said roof support member, when said side walls are swung in the same lateral direction into closed positions, friction- 25 wall for supporting a roof above the structure, and an arched roof adapted to rest upon the top portions of said rear wall and roof support member when said toy is erected to lock said side walls in extended positions.

3. In an erection building toy, a rear wall board, side walls pivotally supported upon said rear wall board and swingable laterally between folded positions wherein said side walls are substantially parallel with said rear wall and expanded positions wherein said side walls are disposed at substantially right angles to said rear wall, a roof member extending along a plane substantially parallel with said rear wall when said side walls are in both said folded and expanded positions and pivotally connecting the forward portions of said side walls, a roof board consisting of two panels having their inner edges notched to provide a V-recess therebetween, and staples formed of malleable metal extending through said panels to maintain them normally in a flat aligned plane but being bendable to bring said panels into an arched position for engaging the upper edges of said rear wall and said roof member to lock said side walls in expanded condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,258,788 Koch Mar. 12, 1918 1,343,065 Suyehiro June 8, 1920 1,746,595 King Feb. 11, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 69,058 Switzerland 1927 

